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A Message from the Editors, 2025 Rubor Volume 13

From the Editorial Team

Dear Reader,

We are very pleased to welcome you to this year’s edition of Rubor: Reflections onMedicine from the Wasatch Front. It is our happy task to review submissions reflecting on medicine from authors and artists across not only our Salt Lake community but the country. These submissions make us think, debate, praise, and reflect on shared experiences in a way that never fails to help us return to our daily work with a little less burnout and a little more gratitude. And, for each of us, there is often a piece that speaks so perfectly to a half-formed thought, or to the memory gathering dust in the corner of our minds, that for a moment we remember perfectly what brought us to medicine in the first place. And we wonder if we are not so alone in this (by equal turns challenging and inspiring) field as we thought. We hope that these pages will allow you the same experience.

This year required special discussion to think through submissions in the context of this rapidly changing world. In this edition you will find pieces reflecting on different feelings and perspectives in medicine, from the mundane to profound, from the personal to the policy level. You may smile at the humorous take on a universal medical student experience in Luisa Rusta’s “Interview Season” or feel the intensity of a resuscitation attempt when viewing Amanda Dryer’s “First Rapid.” Perhaps you will reflect on the nature of loss with Anita Samuel in “Aria of the Dying” or consider healthcare challenges in a new light in many others.

We would like to end with an acknowledgement of our incredible Rubor team. We have an talented editorial team that provided thoughtful discussion, insight, and support through each stage of assembling this edition. Our faculty mentors, Dr. Gretchen Case and Dr. Susan Sample, were an invaluable resource in shaping this year’s edition. We so appreciate their advice and guidance at each stage of the process. Finally, we would like to thank the University of Utah Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities for providing primary funding and support for this publication.

We hope you love this edition as much as we do.

Best,

Eliza Broadbent & Luisa Rusta
Editors-in-Chief, 2025

A Message from the Editors, 2025 Rubor Volume 13, From The Editor by Eliza Broadbent & Luisa Rusta

Eliza is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She has a B.S. in Neuroscience with a creative writing minor. She enjoys reading, hiking, and running.

Luisa is a student in the UUSOM Class of 2025. She has a BS in Biology and has spent a year working as a Medical Assistant at the Fourth Street Clinic, where she now enjoys volunteering. She also likes to do ballet in her kitchen, sit by a campfire, and read cyberpunk novels.